02 January 2009

Rerun

Wait. Well, actually, I do - sort of - don't I? What the hell good is a brand-spankin'-new year if not to be employed as a big, fat do-over?

People are always yawping on about how a new year is a clean slate. ::raises face into wind, arms akimbo, and breathes deeply of brisk mountain air - aahhh!:: A fresh start!

Historically, I've never bought it. Life events that really do provide a chance to start anew - birth, death, divorce, marriage, fabulous new shoes - tend not to follow the calendar, Gregorian, Julian, Lunar or otherwise.

So, to me, 01 January in whatever Year of our Lord has always been just another day...albeit a day frequently marked by hungovered-ness and plagued by football and more-annoying-than usual commercials on the teevee.

But yesterday, after reading Dory's stirring farewell to 2008, and as I was manically exorcising handbags and closets of old Kleenex, I was thinking back over the year - not about the bad things (death, illness, job change, stress) - but about the things I wished I'd been able to fit in.

Any normal person would know intuitively that (as our regional heroine, Scarlett O'Hara, said) tomorrow is another day. But for yours truly it was an A-HA! moment. Tomorrow IS another day! Okay...so technically TODAY is a new day, but give a girl a break, wouldja?

A-ahem. The following are things I wished I'd done in 2008 and now have a chance to do in 2009:

1. Write more. Not the stream-of-consciousness flow of kibbles and bits that you all are subjected to here, but actually practice better writing. I entertain myself by making up the most elaborate stories - why not write them down? Or, at the very least, become a better marketing-oriented writer (ie - hone that skill set).

2. Save some money. At the end of every year, as we embark on the annual adventure of scrounging up receipts for the accountant, I think, "Wow. I need an emergency fund" and then immediately forget about it. But how can you tell off your boss and your boss's boss and become a legend at Acme Global Consolidated, Inc. if you don't have anything to fall back on?

3. Leisure travel. Do you have any idea how long it's been since Hub and I have been to the beach - which is only 8 hours away? Ten years. Ten. Long. Years. We gotta get out of town more often.

4. Take more naps. Seriously. I aged about ten years in 2008. I need more sleep.

5. Do something with the $50,000 worth of yarn, fabric and miscellaneous crafting supplies stockpiled around this house. This is the activity I should have made more time for last year. I spent thousands of dollars on Christmas 2008. Could I have knit and/or sewn something for everyone instead? Oh, hell yes. So 2009 is the year.

That's pretty much it. I usually worry that I'm not communicating enough with friends and loved ones, but - let's face it - if you don't check email or have a Facebook account, you really are making it unnecessarily difficult for people to keep in touch with you.

Can I get a "True Dat"?

Post Script: Taking into consideration comments regarding the new look - Heather said she liked it, but that was when the background was parchment-colored. Mel said it was a bit difficult to read, but that was when I changed the background to terra cotta. Tom was no help whatsoever, but the answer to his question is: Cuban cigars. So we're back to parchment.